 |
| Ivory Coast |
Soldiers from former colonial master France’s Licorne force, which in February strengthened its deployment to 1,100 troops, were patrolling the international airport on the eastern outskirts of Abidjan, according to Sylvain Meka, who has been stranded there since all flights were cancelled on March 31.
“During the night we saw them patrolling on the runway and this morning they have taken position at several locations inside the airport, including snipers on the roof,” Meka said on the phone. “It’s impressive.”
Gunfire could be heard in at least two areas of Abidjan this morning, in the third day of the fighting for control of the city of four million, which has become the last stronghold of combatants loyal to incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to accept his Nov. 28 election defeat. President-elect Alassane Ouattara’s Republican Forces said they control more than 90 percent of the city.
The UN, the U.S., the African Union and the U.K. are calling on Gbagbo, 65, to hand power over to Ouattara, 69, whom they recognize as the winner of the nation’s first election in a decade. Gbagbo claims there was widespread voter fraud and he won. Ouattara’s forces entered Abidjan on March 30, attacking Gbagbo’s palace, army camps and the state-run television headquarters.
Duekoue Killings
The International Committee of the Red Cross yesterday said at least 800 people were killed in “inter-communal violence” in the western town of Duekoue on March 29. Aid groups didn’t say who was responsible for the deaths in Duekoue. Ouattara’s Republican Forces weren’t involved in the killings and called for an international investigation into the crime, the Justice Ministry said.
“The government reiterates its appeal to human-rights organizations to come investigate in Côte d’Ivoire, so that we may know the truth about perpetrators of massive violations of human rights,” Ouattara’s Justice Ministry said in an e-mailed statement today.
UN head Ban today said he spoke to Ouattara late yesterday and “expressed particular concern and alarm about reports that pro-Ouattara forces may have killed many civilians in the town of Duekoue,” according to an e-mailed statement.
U.S. Concern
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. is “deeply concerned by the dangerous and deteriorating situation in Cote d’Ivoire, including recent reports of gross human rights abuses and potential massacres in the west,” according to an e- mailed statement dated yesterday. “Gbagbo is pushing Cote d’Ivoire into lawlessness,” Clinton said.
Cocoa prices dropped 7.1 percent last week as traders predicted an imminent end to the impasse in the world’s largest cocoa producer. The crisis led the West African nation to default on its $2.3 billion of Eurobonds, which have rallied 30 percent in 10 days as Ouattara’s forces advance.
“There were some clashes in the early morning,” Stephane Amani, a man living near the Agban army camp in Abidjan’s Deux- Plateaux district, said today. “We could hear shrapnel, and explosions near the military camp. We heard as well some helicopters flying very low. Now, it is calm again, but we’re scared as we don’t know what’s going on.”
Two UN attack helicopters could also be seen flying over Abidjan.
UN Evacuations
1,300 people, a third of which are French, have found refuge at the Licorne base next to the airport, the French Defense Ministry said on its website. The UN started evacuating 200 of its staff from Abidjan, the Associated Press reported, citing an unnamed UN official.
The UN said yesterday four of its peacekeepers were seriously wounded after coming under attack near Abidjan by forces loyal to Gbagbo, and warned troops loyal to Ouattara to “show restraint” after what the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights called “unconfirmed but worrying” reports of looting, extortion, abductions and ill treatment of civilians.
Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said even though major fighting between the groups seems to have ended in the western part of the country, “the situation nonetheless remains extremely tense and violent in and around several cities in the region.”
Death Toll Unknown
The UN said on March 31 that Liberian mercenaries loyal to Gbagbo were killing and looting in other areas in the west of the country, putting the death toll since the election at 494.
The death toll in Abidjan, located on the southeast coast, isn’t known. MSF said it treated 37 wounded on April 1, including 30 with gunshot wounds.
“Medical facilities across Ivory Coast can no longer provide medications and they lack basic medical equipment,” the group said.
Ouattara’s forces have met resistance from Gbagbo’s troops in Abidjan. Each side claimed to control the headquarters of the state-owned broadcaster, Radio Television Ivoirienne, RTI. The station came back on the air yesterday and issued a bulletin saying that Gbagbo was still at his residence. The broadcasts came from a van parked on a fly-over and not from the studio, Sindou said.
John Atta Mills, the president of Ghana, “has indicated his willingness to give political asylum to President Gbagbo if he asks for it,” spokesman Koku Anyidoho said in an interview broadcast on Accra-based Radio Gold yesterday. Gbagbo hadn’t yet asked for asylum, he said.
Gbagbo’s spokesman denied speculation he fled the country.
“Laurent Gbagbo is in his residence with his family,” Ahoua Don Mello said in an interview. “We call for negotiations. Ivorian society is divided and we need to heal it.”
Sources: http://www.businessweek.com
